hannabnana goes to

Vietnam 2

November 22^nd 1993

 Had another terrible stomach attack last night (but as long as they only show up at night I can deal with them – during day there are way too many things to see & do) We got up in the early morning – packed our stuff together – went over to the reception to pay & get our passports back & then we were ready to say goodbye. Bruce wanted to fly down to Saigon – but Karen & Fiona was going down to Nha Trang the following day. The minibus arrived & we were on the road again.

In the bus we talked to Bill & Kim from Australia (siblings) they were really nice.

The view down to Nha Trang was beautiful – beaches & palm trees – paddy fields with water buffalos doing hard work – soft hills & rough mountains – Vietnam is so much of everything pretty.

Then Nha Trang – we were driven to a big hotel - which had separate section for backpackers – a huge room divided into small cabins with a bed & a mosquito net. All the rooms are open at the ceiling so you can hear what’s going on in all the other rooms. (Very fantastic & entertaining) There are also open holes out to the free – so air & mosquitoes can come in.

We ate at the hotel restaurant & it was okay! We met a guy from Bristol we have heard a lot about since Hanoi – “Tim the horrible bricklayer from Bristol” – (This is one of these cases how a story grows into the extreme then it travels from person to person – when we hears about him – he had beaten a few guys to nearly dead up in Hanoi) Tim was very confused about the story – he had asked a guy to get outside a bar up there to sort out a problem – but they never did they just left the bar together & found another bar & had some more beers & forgot about the argument – but the story traveled by itself.

November 23^rd 1993

It’s raining even though the rainy season should have been over long time ago. We ate breakfast over at the beach front where restaurants are lined up next to each other. The waves were huge but Bill wanted to try them out anyway - & went in – the “horrible bricklayer” was impressed – Little old ladies are selling fruit & kids are selling postcards & photocopies of Lonely Planets books. We talked to a guy who sold postcards too – he was no bigger than a 10 year old child but up in his 30’s & one of his friends who was missing most of his fingers – what a pair but they had a huge talent for money.

November 24^th 1993

Bill & Kim left today – the sun was shinning & we went down to the beach – I had hair removed on my legs for 3$ - with a piece of chalk & a sewing treat – It worked but it took some time. We found a swimming pool behind the hotel & spend most of the day there relaxing. We found a very strange restaurant/shag – in a hole in a wall to a building ground. The owner didn’t speak too much English but his son did. & he was very eager to learn Danish too – so I gave him a lesson. He was about 12 - & a fast learner. 

November 25^th 1993

We haven’t seen Fiona & Karen so now we booked a minibus to take us to Saigon tomorrow from the guy with the missing fingers – he writes extremely fast – Annemette wanted to see a pagoda but I didn’t care so she took a walk herself – didn’t make it very far – cause she met Fiona – they stayed at a hotel up the road (Than Phu Boulevard) & they had looked for us –

Invited Karen & Richard to dinner at Vu’s dad’s restaurant – they liked it too – I still wonder what became of that business when the hotel was build & the area cleared – (They were gone 2 years after when I returned)

November 26^th 1993

Got up in the middle of the night to find the minibus – there were way too many people booked for it & Annemette & I ended up in a normal car with a friendly driver – but we were not exactly proud of the situation. But headed out – we tried to stay awake but fell asleep anyway – we had to trust the poor man. He played tapes for us when we finally woke up & made a stop when we saw a really nice beach – so we could get out & look at the seashells – the roads were bad & we had 2 flat tires on the way down – it took 10 hours & he dumped us off next to a cyclo resting place. Where we paid 1$ to get transported over to the hotel Graeme had told us about – it was late afternoon & we couldn’t care less about trying to find a cheaper guest house in Backpack area – so hotel Vinh Loi it became. We walked over to the G.P.O. to collect our letters & spend a very long time figuring out what & where they stored old faxes. We took a cyclo over to Kim’s café in backpack area & met a guy from Nha Trang (Stefan) he had found a room in a very new guest house & we walked down there to see if they had a room for us the following morning. They told us to return at 08:00am – so we walked down to Sinh’s café & ate dinner – then it started to rain & we walked home – we were getting a bit on each other’s nerves now.

November 27^th 1993

Got up early & had a shower & packed the stuff & checked out – then we walked over to backpack area – around Pham Ngu Lao St. – we checked the guesthouse & was lucky – they had a room for us. While we waited for them to change sheets we had a fresh coconut with a straw to drink. The room is wonderful & brand new.

We walked up to Vietnam air to re-confirm the ticket to Phnom Penh & took a cyclo out to Cambodian air to do the same. Then we walked up the Le Loi Street – I don’t know who le Loi is – but there is a le Loi Street in every Vietnamese city. Annemette wanted to see the reunification palace – but it was closed for the day when we got there. So instead we went shopping in a shopping mall – sort of - & a huge indoor market (Ben Thanh Market).

Spend the evening with Stefan – Tim & a couple of Danes who were just arrived & could tell us that home they had a feet of snow – here it’s something like 90 degree F & a humidity to match.

November 28^th 1993

Got up at 07:30 & went down to the bus at Sinh’s café – on the way we met Karen & Ulrika – told them to meet us later. At Sinh’s we bordered the bus together with Susan & Ola from Sweden & 4 Dutch - 1 French (Isabella) – 1 German – 1 Canadian & 2 Swiss people – we left Saigon heading towards the Mekong Delta. In Mytho we sailed over the river in a rusty old ferry & after that were placed in 2 different motorboats & sailed to up to the “Coconut monks” island. It’s like seeing an old fair – he had build huge towers & dragons & vases & dressed them with pieces of china & metal – long time ago it must have been pretty & sparkly – now it’s faded & the whole island is silent.

He was called the coconut monk because he only ate coconuts for 3 years & he formed a religion – being across between Buddhism & Christianity.

Then we sailed around on the small muddy side rivers under huge green leaves & saw children swimming & smiling at us. We got on land just after a massive rain had started & slid & climbed over bamboo bridges to a coconut candy factory where young girls wrapped the coconut caramels by hand – we saw how they cooked the coconuts & pressed the milk out of them – Then we saw a fish farm & laughed a lot cause the peoples “toilets” hang over the pond – so every body knew what the fish was fed with.

Then we slid back to the boats & sailed back to the ferry - & now we are waiting for the bus. Finally we could go home to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City as it’s officially named but only called by officials)

All our friends has moved into our guesthouse & they brought along a French guy they met in Nha Trang (Xavier) he’s funny! We all drank an awful lot of BGI beers & had fun outside Kim’s café. Richard drew a caricature of me – it’s great.

November 29^th 1993

We all met up at Kim’s café & had breakfast – then we split up to do what we had decided to do – like having our passport photos taken (for apply for a Cambodian visa) It took a while they had made them too small so we had to do it one more time.

Ate at a veggie restaurant & the rest except Karen & I went out to Apocalypse Now bar to get real drunk.

November 30^th 1993

This morning I found a 2 ½ inch big cockroach in our room – I succeeded catching it in a tape box & drown it in the toilet – Richard went wild – poor creature he yelled – I told him I wanted to teach it to swim – but it wouldn’t listen. He wasn’t so awful proud when I found its mate & I placed it on top of his stomach - he killed it right away.

Karen – Beatrice – Annemette – Xavier & I walked over to the American War Crime Museum (now it’s only called the War Crime Museum) to see how terrible war is – Tanks & shells & black & white photos of what had been going on - & a horrible room full of photos of deform babies caused by the agent Orange etc – born with no eyes – no arms & legs – without a face just a mouth - it was heart aching. We were very quiet when we left.

On the way back we walk in to the indoor market again – to buy small presents for those at home – I can always send it home from Bangkok. The rain came back & we laughed & laughed running from shelter to shelter. 

We spend the evening at Kim’s.

December 1st 1993

Didn’t do a lot today – it’s too hot. Had our passports photocopied & went to the bank – bought some t-shirts & dumped some others – We’re sitting outside the corner café with Richard – Chris & Fiona & drink hot lemonade & eat baguettes with cheese – onions & tomatoes – the cyclo drivers hang around here too – in hope for that one of us need a ride. Here are full of children selling postcards – gum - & electronic lighters & here are a lot of beggars.

Had a huge goodbye party where we had a lot of BGI’s & I took a whole roll of film & we promised to stay in touch with as many as possible – (I did – they’re still there – Xavier – Karen & Fiona)

Tomorrow it’s another country – Cambodia here we come!